Looking for a good humbucker

[David E H]

Hey guys, I'm fixing up a Strat replica that I'd like to replace some of the pickups with humbuckers. I know they don't necessarily fit, but I don't mind drilling and cutting out chops of wood, but I do know that the bridge position doesn't need alteration.

I've come to not like the twang of single coils as much as humbuckers, and I don't know all that much about pickups, so I need some advice.

I want a dark, warm, sounding pickup, used predominantly for distortion. Now, this is kind of subjective, but I want all the strings to kind of blend together in power chords and such.
I've noticed that in my single coils, it's like you can always hear each individual string, which I don't want right now.

I also don't want one of those "humbucker that gives you the single coil sound!" type of deal.

If you need the critique me that's fine, I'd like to learn more about this stuff.
: )

[5u4]

I can only tell you what I like for a classic rock sound. Duncan SSL3 hot strat gives a nice full humbuck sound while still keeping a bit of the strat character with no hacking up the body. If you must have a Gibson style humbuck, I've found nothing better than one of the many PAF clones. If you need more distortion on the cheap get a MXR distortion + or if you have a few $, then a Mesa dual rectifier would be where I'd look.

[David E H]

Hey man I, thanks for the reply. I'm hoping to fit a strat copy I'm fixing up with just "heavier" pickups than my MIM Strat. I'd prefer not to replace my MIM Strat's pickups yet, and they cover every other tone for me anyways.

Here's a sample of the sound I'm going for. I've gotten really close with my single coils, but I can tell they're not quite there. The opening in this song is really heavy, granted a bass is playing with the guitar, but it's the sound I'd like to achieve. I thought maybe a pickup made for metal would work, just under less distortion, but it's almost got a little bit of vintage punk and grunge in it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEKC5pyOKFU

Much of the sound has to do with the amp and pedals, but it's fun for me to try to match it!
Thanks,
David

[HK26147]

My strat-cat friends swear by Seymour Duncan.
Pick your tone.
They use Pearly Gates for TexMex.
Maybe an SH-13 for what you are after.

[charles.david]

Or, you could go reaally custom and wind and pot your own.

Check out this board:
http://projectguitar.ibforums.com/in...showtopic=3408

[HK26147]

Maybe this is more of what you had in mind:
Hot Rails for Tele STHR-1b

[BlueRob]

I currently use Dimarzio pups on my guitars and I´m pretty happy with the tone.
But tone is one of those things that are very personal....my best suggestion is that you can go to Dimazio web page and browse through the pups they have, to the left there is a bar that has some sample files of each pup so you can her them and choose your tone

HTH

[KP11520]

I am also a fan of the SD Pearly Gates.

But on a Gibson, the Pearly Gates would be my Neck Pup and a SD JB would be my Bridge Pup.

If you are going to convert to a Fat Strat model, look at pups that favor the Bridge position. If you are replacing the Middle or Neck Pup, look at the Bridge position pups. But nothing is a rule, you can put what you want wherever you want.

See here for more suggestions: http://forum.vanderbilly.com/showthread.php?t=3630

I hope this helps and isn't too late.

Regards//Keith

[Geek]

Originally posted by HK26147
My strat-cat friends swear by Seymour Duncan.

x2

SD makes Strat humbuckers in the single coil size.

Cheers!

[Kramerguy]

EMG makes some single rail humbuckers that have active electronics. The best bet to cut down on the wood chopping.

http://www.emgpickups.com/displaypro...r&categoryid=7

Originally posted by David E H
Hey guys, I'm fixing up a Strat replica that I'd like to replace some of the pickups with humbuckers. I know they don't necessarily fit, but I don't mind drilling and cutting out chops of wood, but I do know that the bridge position doesn't need alteration.

I've come to not like the twang of single coils as much as humbuckers, and I don't know all that much about pickups, so I need some advice.

I want a dark, warm, sounding pickup, used predominantly for distortion. Now, this is kind of subjective, but I want all the strings to kind of blend together in power chords and such.
I've noticed that in my single coils, it's like you can always hear each individual string, which I don't want right now.

I also don't want one of those "humbucker that gives you the single coil sound!" type of deal.

If you need the critique me that's fine, I'd like to learn more about this stuff.
: )